Rock Radio 50 Years Ago ~ August 1975

Endless Summer of Rockin’ Radio Miracles   

Well, here we are, the 11^th of the month—latest this article has ever been. So, I’ve progressed from elevated and iced foot to a post-op shoe. Still aggravating, but at least more mobile. Never thought a toe could cause so much irritation.

Our final super-fun “Endless Summer” article includes an in-depth look at one of our pioneering Rock Radio DJs, plus all the regulars … Song of Note, Featured Radio Survey and … okay, I’ll shut up and get on with August 1975 … 50 Years Ago this Month … 

Hot Summer nights were made for Rock & Roll music. Or is it vice versa? I have the distinct pleasure of being old enough to enjoy memories of August 1975 … and just so ya know (if you’re not “of a certain age”), sex, drugs, and Rock & Roll were all right there with me! And so was Radio …
       My jam-packed issue of Blast from Your Past ~ 50 Years Ago this Month features a trio of dynamite Rockin’ music charts from which only one can emerge as the month’s Featured Radio Survey. No mean feat to choose; will you agree with my fave? Before we check ‘em out, let’s see what was riding high in music news 50 Years Ago …

º August 1975 Radio News & Muse ♪ 

August 4^th: The Led Zeppelin we all know and love, was nearly extinguished at the height of their popularity, on this date 50 Years Ago. Were you a zealous fan (and there were/are many) who anguished over the news of Robert Plant and family’s auto accident on an idyllic, but isolated island of Greece?
       Zep’s August 8^th press release of cancelled concerts is an item of historical interest on their website today, telling of the accident that fortunately was not fatal; however, it put the band’s future at stake. By the end of September, Plant was rolling around stage in a wheelchair, but not quite ready to perform.
       To keep them in your minds and hearts, Wolfman Jack’s Midnight Special November 14^th aired a tribute show for Led Zeppelin, with a previously recorded Plant interview (March ’75). Still, no tour plans were considered until Plant was fully healed. Obviously, that eventually happened, and Zeppelin fans breathed a sigh of relief in coming months. 

August 5^th: A historic date in popular music, as Stevie Wonder, known by family as Stevland Hardaway Morris (né Judkins), signed a monumental contract, re-upping with Motown Records, to the tune of a $13 million advance. Although, there was trouble in music paradise, as reportedly, the deal wasn’t finalized until April 1976.  

August 9^th: Fancy that, on this day, with the lead tune from their newest album, Main Course, at the top of charts, the Bee Gees’ comeback was complete when “Jive Talkin’” hit the one-million-sales mark for a platinum honor. The momentum inspired them all the way through the ‘70s.  

♪ On Your Tinny Transistor Radio ♪  
Where were you sippin’ your Endless Summer smoothie 1975? Join us this month as we explore the West Coast ocean waves and airwaves in Sacramento, California, up to Portland, Oregon, and all the way back down to the surf in San Diego! Three dynamic radio stations vie for Featured Radio Survey – which will grab the honor? Here’s a sample of what and who you were listening to August 1975 …

When I scored the vintage radio survey for KNDE/Sacramento, California, back in 2011, I had no idea just how great a find it was! Even the venerable WIKI doesn’t have proper info on the station, like I found on general radio history sites, including the link above. That link is only a paragraph on KNDE, but filled in the gaps of yet another convoluted station background. It began as a Progressive Rock station, eventually morphing into the Top 40 format.

       More importantly, I learned that DJ Neale Blase, who’s in my BFYP Book 2: The Swinging Sixties, floated into KNDE and helped it reign supreme in Sacto area Rock, 1973- “until its unnoticed demise,” obviously after the Fall of 1975. Neale had a way of slipping in and out of radio stations like going through a revolving door. In fact, his own book, reflects his self-named career, Radio on the Run: Hired 40 Times … Fired 22. The August 27, 1975 “Rock KANDIE 147” 1470 on your dial, sports iconic art of the Psychedelic Seventies and a Top 30 list of hits. On the front, the “Rock Pile” and inside at #1? “Fallin’ In Love” by H.J.F. and Reynolds—better known as Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds. (Follow the link and note the unmistakable Playboy logo on the album cover. Yep, Playboy anything was popular then, including Playboy Records label.)  

As we scoot up the coast to Portland, Oregon, it’s with heavy hearts and misty eyes, we peruse the KISN 91 radio survey and its early image of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne at the height of their run, lounging on the cover. A simple review of history has turned into a tribute to Ozzy, our self-proclaimed “Prince of Darkness,” with his July 22, 2025, rise to Rock & Roll Heaven. R.I.P. His Back to the Beginning concert event July 5, 2025, raised $184,907,335.01 (£140 million) for charity. Giving back before he even left. Awesome. 
       Apparently, Portland’s first Top 40 station in 1960, KISN continued to generate Rock & Roll heat through the years, attracting great air talent like "The Real" Don Steele. Sadly, the station took a direct hit as a property owned by Star Stations, which reportedly battled corruption issues in Indiana during the early ‘70s. It all came to a head in 1975 and the FCC shuttered all Star Stations, requesting termination of broadcasting by September 2^nd. So the August 26, 1975, survey may well be their last hurrah.

Finally, slip-sliding down to San Diego, we finish our Endless Summer with August’s Featured Radio Survey, and San Diego’s celebrated Top 40 station, KCBQ, August 25, 1975 …
       Who recalls the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethons that raised millions each year for muscular dystrophy? The annual event was beloved by many and played a vital role in the charity’s funding. This month’s vintage KCBQ/San Diego, California, survey features hotshot DJ of the SoCal Radio airwaves, Shotgun Tom Kelly on the cover, with the incomparable Jerry Lewis (1926-2017).
       Inside the 1170AM music chart, Issue #230, are San Diego’s Top 20 hits of the day, a list of top fifteen albums, and a tell-all set of lyrics to David Bowie’s “Fame,” that seemingly gnawed at his sanity.
       KCBQ was at the height of its Rock station status, becoming a SoCal icon by 1975. Many super-power DJs took over its studios and Rocked your world. Says the Historical Marker Data Base, 1958—1978: During this period, KCBQ AM 1170 was one of the best known and imitated radio stations in the broadcast industry. This takes you to a brief history and plaque dedication, with many of the Top 40 personalities’ names engraved on it. Is your fave there? Shotgun Tom Kelly spearheaded the campaign for a monument and along with his name, you’ll find etched in stone, Bill Gardner, Scotty Day, Happy Hare, Jack Vincent, Jimmy Rabbit,

Rich “Brother” Robin, Neil Ross, Bob Shannon, Charlie Tuna, Casey B. Quack, Phil Roberts, William F. Williams, and SO many more! (Bold and linked names are in BFYP books!)
       Follow this link to DJ Shotgun Tom Kelly’s BFYP Swinging Sixties book excerpt and MORE fun trivia on San Diego’s own Walk of Fame DJ! (The Answer San Diego (KCBQ-AM) is now owned and operated by Salem Media Group, with talk, news and music programming.) 
       What super song had San Diegans voted to top of the August 25, 1975, KCBQ chart? The Bee Gees’ “Jive Talkin’” was again #1, with seven weeks on their Top 20! ♪ … With all your jive-talkin', you're telling me lies, yeah | Jive-talkin', you wear a disguise … ♪   

Shotgun Tom isn’t our only celeb DJ here. BFYP’s DJ emeritus, Bill Gardner, predates Tom a bit. He too, was into radio, even as a young’un, and served as a mentor for his two younger DJ brothers. August marks a momentous event for Bill and American Rock Radio. “This is an anniversary!” says Tom on his website, “It was 60 years ago this week that America got the FIRST FM Top 40 station, as I launched KLZ-FM/Denver!”

       You read it right—FM. Up until that moment on August 4, 1965, all Rock Radio stations were on the AM band only. Bill’s story is delightful—and it’s short! Go read more like, “I still remember the first song I ever played that day.... "California Girls" by the Beach Boys.” Ten years later, by 1975, FM had exploded, with Rock and Roll taking over the radio band that had once carried “beautiful music,” classical strings, or soft jazz.
       Though we know we’re only “39 and Holding,” at times it’s often difficult to believe we had a life before old age set in. As Bill said recently, “… the picture of me there has lots of dark brown hair and looks like plenty of Brylcreem too. Yeesh.” (FYI, Bill’s posts change every Friday.)

♪ August ’75 Song of Note ♪
Christmas isn’t the only time of year for miracles. We often have them in our Endless Summers, like Jefferson Starship’s “Miracles,’ written by Starship member, Marty Balin. (Warning! This is the long version, nearly 7 minutes of undeniably awesome ‘70s Rock; it was shortened for radio play.) For KCBQ fans, it’s sitting at #8, after a healthy leap up its Top 20 chart from #16 the previous week, but wasn’t on the KISN/Portland chart at all, and only just made its debut at #29 for listeners at KNDE/Sacramento.
       “Miracles” is not a song of marvels and phenomena, but love, pure and simple in all its forms, perfect for a Summer crush. It swings from ethereal love to valentine love to erotic love in one swift movement ♪ … I can hear windmills and rainbows | Whenever you're talkin' to me | I feel like swirling and dancin' | Whenever you're walking with me … ♪  
       Of course, we know the band began as Jefferson Airplane and that entity notwithstanding, “Miracles” helped bring the next generation of Jefferson Starship into full stardom. Grace (Slick) and Marty interpreted the lyrics perfectly, paying tribute to Marty’s love of the moment. Give yourself a break. Listen to “Miracles” and daydream how you can manifest your own Summer Love. ♪ … If only you believe in miracles, baby | So would I … ♪   

♪ August 2025 Music Events & More ♪    

Friday ~ August 8^th – 16^th: Who recalls a dynamic Elvis in Blue Hawaii? The movie was a quintessential expression of America’s 50^th state in eternal Summer Love. Surely, if you check out the Elvis website you can’t help to enjoy memories of Summer Love during Elvis Week! Just think … a warm August night, a bright full moon, your Summer Love, and you!

Tuesday ~ August 12^th: It’s time to dig your ol’ phonograph out of storage, lovingly pull out your 45s or albums, and make a date with your Oldies! It’s Vinyl Record Day! For some stupid reason, the original sponsor of this day has disappeared. But we found a great article for you in the link above —especially if you don’t know what a vinyl record is (!).
       Yes, I know new artists are making vinyl recordings again, but they’re nothing like the originals that are still making memories today.

Wednesday ~ August 20^th: Technically sponsored by a Wiki page, National Radio Day is claimed by WWJ/Detroit, Michigan, which purports to be “… the ‘World's First Station’ and where ‘commercial radio broadcasting began’ … however, there are reportedly four stations vying for that auspicious title: WWJ, KDKA/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, WHA/Madison, Wisconsin and KCBS/San Francisco, California. Take your pick!

Friday ~ August 29^th: Holy Margaritaville! It’s Jimmy Buffet Day! We still miss the world’s favorite and now, eternal, surf bum (1946-2023). Talk about an island state of mind … he used to put me in one often. Beginning as a troubadour on the streets of New Orleans in the late 1960s, Jimmy released “A Pirate Looks at Forty” in February 1975. He turned 30 that December. Guess he was feeling older … Have you ever felt ♪ … Yes I am a pirate, two hundred years too late | The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder | I'm an over-forty victim of fate … ♪   

♪♪ BFYP Featured Radio Survey ♪♪ August 25, 1975 ~ KCBQ/San Diego, California. A silly quirk of radio stations back in the day, was to alter their music charts with their call letters inserted into a Top 10 song’s title or artist name. This month, listed at #3 on the “Q Hits” list was “Get Down Tonight,” by KCBQ Sunshine Band (KC & the Sunshine Band). ♪ … Do a little dance, make a little love | Get down tonight … ♪  50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio! Where were you that groovy day when your radio played …

Let’s Enjoy AUGUST 1975 and … Rock our Endless Summer Hits!  

BFYP Book 1 (1954-1959) on Amazon         
BFYP Book 2 (Swinging ‘60s) on Amazon 
Blast from Your Past Gifts 
Share your Golden Oldies R&R fun on X: @BlastFromPastBk 

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LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. Two books (of three planned) are published in her Blast from Your Past^TM series, available on Amazon: Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959^TM (eBook only; coming soon in updated print edition) and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties^TM (eBook & print). Coming soon-ish … Book 3 – The Psychedelic Seventies!^TM 

Note: FYI – All links in the BFYP site are personally visited, verified, and vetted. Most are linked to commonly accessed sites of reputable note. Occasionally, since I often feature real people and/or singular sources there may be an unsecured link. As with everything cyber-security, use at your own discretion and risk. This site is wholly owned by LinDee Rochelle & sponsored by PenchantForPenning.com^TM. No compensation is received for any mentions of businesses, products, or other commercial interests. *All holiday and special event days are found at Brownielocks.com’s calendar site. Enjoy! 
            01/01/25: The Blast from Your Past site has never and will never (knowingly) be written or assisted, by Artificial Intelligence. It’s just stupid ol’ “I” and I enjoy writing these articles. They soothe my soul. So why would I hand that indulgence over to an artificial, soulless entity that can’t feel pleasure?!

Partial post 08/01/25: Yep, late again. … this time, it’s even more aggravating for me than it is for you. I broke my toe. Now, it’s just a toe, so you wouldn’t think it would be a big deal. Without going into detail, and not posting a sad photo of me with my foot elevated in an orthopedic “shoe,” suffice it to say, I’m lagging.

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